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Contrary to early reports, Mr Fong was well equipped, with a waterproof jacket, spare shirts and food - 12 tuna sandwiches, four oranges, four apples, five muesli bars and three bottles of orange juice.

Next day, though, his already aching body took a battering.

"I fell down a couple of times. I slipped while climbing a three-metre waterfall.

"I thought, 'No, I've got to get up.' I was starting to get confused, too. I didn't know where I was going, and my mind was wandering."

Mr Fong, whose family are from Fiji, said his thoughts turned to them, particularly his father, Ram Kumar.

"There was never a time when I thought, 'This is it. I'm going to die.' But I thought about my family and how they might be thinking that I'm dead."

Mr Fong's ordeal came to an end on Tuesday evening when he waved down a van near a road.

"They stopped and I told them I was lost. They said, 'Are you Ronnie?' I said yes and they just laughed - they were so happy. It was the rescue team."

Mr Kumar said the family stayed positive and believed that their son and brother would be okay because of his experience in tramping.

"I knew he would be okay," Mr Kumar said. "He is a strong boy and we always knew he could look after himself. We're just happy to have him home."

Mountain Safety Council chief executive officer Darryl Carpenter said last night that people should remain in one place if they became lost in the bush.

"If you want to keep moving you can walk around in circles, but it is important for searchers that you stay in the same place."

Mr Carpenter said the Mountain Safety Council recommended that once people realise they were lost, they use any resources in the immediate area to stay warm.

"You can look around and find shelter, whether that be using ferns or in a cave.

"But it is most important that you do not just keep walking."

He said it would have been difficult for rescuers to find Mr Fong as he did not stay in any one place for very long.

"The way it works is that Search and Rescue search areas, then cross them off.

"This individual [Mr Fong] went back into areas which had already been searched."

Search and Rescue co-ordinator Sergeant Dene Duthie agreed Mr Fong would have been found a lot sooner had he stayed in one place.

"If he had stopped, we probably would have found him on Sunday, if not Monday."